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 In an attempt to keep our age 65+ mother in touch with faraway relatives and long-lost friends, my siblings and I encouraged her to sign up for Facebook.
Much like the concerns found in a survey of Facebook users over the age of 55, my mother originally felt uncomfortable with her information being "out there." That is, until she wasn’t.
As Facebook gains traction with the 55+ crowd, the social media platform is taking note of how that demographic uses its site in an attempt to lure others from that age group.
Although the number is now growing, researchers wanted to better understand the initial underlying reticence for avoiding the platform. Publishing their findings in the journal Telematics and Informatics, researchers conducted a survey of 20 Facebook users and 26 non-Facebook users living in a retirement home.
Researchers asked the participants a number of questions about the frequency of their Facebook use, or non-use as the case may be.
According to the survey results, ranking highest among the reasons for that age group to use the site include sharing photos, keeping in touch with friends and monitoring their family members’ status updates.
However, one of the main reasons indicated for not participating on the site included concern over who sees their information and content. Additionally, there was also criticism levelled at the "oversharing" that happens on Facebook with posts that deal mostly in triviality: i.e., pictures of meals or documentation of: Every. Single. Thing.
"The biggest concern is privacy and it's not about revealing too much, it's that they assume that too many random people out there can get their hands on their information," said S. Shyam Sundar, distinguished professor of communications and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory, Penn State. "Control is really what privacy is all about. It's about the degree to which you feel that you have control over how your information is shared or circulated."
One of the ways Facebook believes it can draw in more users from that demographic is to look for ways to highlight the array of privacy options available to its users.
"Clear privacy control tools are needed to promote older adults' Facebook use," said Eun Hwa Jung, assistant professor of communications and new media, National University of Singapore. "In particular, we think that privacy settings and alerts need to be highly visible, especially when they [older adults] are sharing information."
So while my mother has now fully embraced the platform, sharing political views in equal measure to the pictures she shares of her grandchildren, maybe the retirement home research is flawed and that the admittedly small sample group surveyed is simply not on the platform because they are…ahem…busy.
Are you a Facebook user or have you resisted the platform?
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